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Edmonton Journal BlogsTue, 31 Mar 2015 22:05:00 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png » Alexander Ovechkinhttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com
Which shooters and goalies are the Edmonton Oilers’ best shootout options?http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/10/22/which-shooters-and-goalies-are-the-edmonton-oilers-best-shootout-options/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/10/22/which-shooters-and-goalies-are-the-edmonton-oilers-best-shootout-options/#commentsWed, 22 Oct 2014 18:46:46 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=209071No team in the NHL has participated in more shootouts this season than the Washington Capitals. Through five games, the club has gone to the skills competition three times, posting a 1-2-0 record. This is a continuation of a trend …]]>No team in the NHL has participated in more shootouts this season than the Washington Capitals. Through five games, the club has gone to the skills competition three times, posting a 1-2-0 record. This is a continuation of a trend from last season that saw the Caps participate in the shootout an NHL-leading 21 times; they managed a 10-11 record.

All this is in contrast to Edmonton, a team which went to just seven shootouts last year and has one in the books this season.

But with Washington one of the league leaders in the category, it’s a good time to look at how the individuals on the Oilers’ roster have done over their careers. Because the samples tend to be small, I’ve compiled each player’s stats from their career NHL work and their work in the AHL in the skills competition:

Players with more than 10 attempts are in the top half of the chart; players with less than 10 attempts in the bottom half of the chart.

The NHL average for the shootout is roughly one-of-three, so the Oilers have two excellent options who based on history should probably be shooting every night: Matt Hendricks and Jordan Eberle. After that, it’s really a coin toss with a whole bunch of less than compelling shooters. One who might be worth trying: Justin Schultz, who showed really well in a short span of AHL attempts. Another who might be worth a shot: Nail Yakupov, who has yet to take his first shootout attempt in the NHL.

The Oilers goalies are both around the average mark on their careers once we include AHL statistics; Ben Scrivens has turned aside 67.1 percent of the shots he’s faced while Viktor Fasth has stopped 65.8 percent.

As for tonight’s game, the lineup is unchanged from Monday’s win over Tampa Bay:

Of the coaches’ press conferences, the best line probably came from Barry Trotz, who was asked how Alex Ovechkin could top 50 goals last season while going minus-35. Originally he refused to answer (“I don’t know, I wasn’t here. I have no idea.”) but when pressed he offered up the following gem from legendary goaltender Dominik Hasek:

You know, sometimes it just happens. Sometimes, you’re pushing… Dominik Hasek said this to [current Capitals goalie coach] Mitch Korn one time: ‘The top players start every year minus-10.’ Just because they’re on late in games, those type of things, and you end up trying to create that offence, you’re the sixth guy offensively. Dominik Hasek used to say you’re minus-10; how he got the other 25 I’m not quite sure.

I’d add that playing a lot on the power play (where only minuses can be collected) and generally not playing shorthanded (where only pluses can be collected) is part of the equation, too. Either way, it’s a good reminder of yet another reason to distrust the NHL’s most unloved statistic.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old superstar has 422 goals and 814 points in 679 regular-season games but not one …

]]>With the purging of general manager George McPhee and head coach Adam Oates in Washington, the need for change escaped captain Alex Ovechkin.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old superstar has 422 goals and 814 points in 679 regular-season games but not one career game past the second round of the playoffs.

“Alexander Ovechkin is a great, great hockey player. The criticism of him is very unfair,” Capitals president Dick Patrick said. “How can we be unhappy with what Alexander Ovechkin has accomplished in the National Hockey League?”

There’s the rub. Nobody debates Ovie’s talent.

The question is what has he accomplished for the team with seven years and $70 million left on his contract? No Cups. Not even close.

You can blame McPhee for not surrounding Ovie with the requisite supporting cast to get closer (they badly need to upgrade the defence, need more consistent goaltending and more top nine forwards), but to let Ovie skate away from criticism — he does have the ‘C’ on his chest — is patently wrong.

But owner Ted Leonsis, a good man not taken to firing people in his sports empire, which includes the NBA’s Washington Wizards, loves Ovie.

No. 8 brings people to games. And Patrick, helmed with finding a new general manager, defends him, too, even though the great ones with the ‘C’ on their chest (Crosby, Yzerman, Sakic) win Cups along with all their points.

And Oates, fired with a year left on his three-year deal, can coach but needed more saves from Braden Holtby and whomever else was in net there.

He did some good things with Ovie, getting him to buy into moving from left- to right-wing. He wanted Ovie to be more responsible when he didn’t have the puck, but he’s not alone there.

But now, they’re looking to change the manager’s office and add a fourth coach since 2010-11.

They’re not the only team looking for a GM. So is Vancouver, so is Calgary. Carolina’s Jimmy Rutherford will likely step aside for Hall of Famer Ron Francis (yeah, he won Cups and put up points, too) in the next little while. I’d go for Paul Fenton, GM David Poile’s right-hand man in Nashville, and ousted Predators coach Barry Trotz. Fenton has waited far too long to run his own hockey team.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/27/alex-ovechkin-needs-to-wear-some-of-washington-capitals-failings/feed/0Alexander OvechkinnhlbymattyThis ‘n’ that: Moscow Dynamo would be likely landing spot for Alex Ovechkin if he chose to bolt for KHLhttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/20/this-n-that-moscow-dynamo-would-be-likely-landing-spot-for-alex-ovechkin-if-he-chose-to-bolt-for-khl/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/20/this-n-that-moscow-dynamo-would-be-likely-landing-spot-for-alex-ovechkin-if-he-chose-to-bolt-for-khl/#commentsMon, 21 Apr 2014 03:30:13 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=198212- If Alex Ovechkin ever thought of hiking off to the KHL down the road, it could land with the Moscow Dynamo, for whom he’s an adviser. The club is owned by billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, who used to spar at …]]>- If Alex Ovechkin ever thought of hiking off to the KHL down the road, it could land with the Moscow Dynamo, for whom he’s an adviser. The club is owned by billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, who used to spar at judo with Russian president Vladimir Putin when they were kids.

– Longtime Edmonton Oilers orthopedic specialist Dr. David Reid’s hopes of being in the owner’s box at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby were recently dashed when one of the favourites, Honor Code, was ruled out of the Derby because of a small tear in the right hind upper suspensory. Dr. Reid was in a group of owners of Honor Code, who had just gotten over an ankle problem.

– Kudos to ex-Oilers goalie Jeff Deslauriers for winning the AHL’s top goalie award with Eric Harzell in Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh’s farm team. Deslauriers played 40 games for the Pens’ affiliate with a 2.58 goals-against average.

– Ryan Murray, playing on the first defence pairing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, doesn’t have a ‘wow’ factor, but team president John Davidson says “he’s not flashy, but he makes these little plays all night long. He’s not physical per se, but he doesn’t lose battles. His hockey IQ is of the highest nature.”

– I’m going to miss TSN’s Ray Ferraro between the benches next NHL season now that Sportsnet’s got the broadcast rights. He’s the best in the business. I keep thinking he should be on an NHL management-team train, with his smarts. Ferraro tells a nice story about why Pavel Datsyuk is who he is. “(Son) Landon was at his first Detroit camp and he got on the same team as Pav,” said Ferraro, who played almost 1100 NHL games. “The way the Wings work it is they break into three groups and two play a game and the other works out in the gym and practices. Landon was taking off his equipment one day after not playing a game and he sees Pav doing the same, then putting on his gym stuff. Pav doesn’t look at Landon as he walks by, but Landon sees him and immediately puts on his gym stuff too. That’s the definition of a pro.”

– Now that ex-Oilers goalie Jim Corsi is no longer the Buffalo Sabes’ goalie teacher after 16 years there, maybe he should get on the web and do tutorials on his Corsi rating (shots directed at the opposing net compared to attempts on your own cage). Feeling in Buffalo is Arturs Irbe, who was Latvia’s goalie coach when Sabres coach Ted Nolan was the Latvian Olympic head man, will get Corsi’s job. Irbe had a gig as the Washington Capitals’ goalie coach three years ago.

– This may be one and done for ex-Oilers good soldier/defenceman Nick Schultz in Columbus. He hasn’t been able to crack their top six since the trade there. He’ll be a UFA this summer

– Anton Belov is returning to Russia to play with a team in turmoil in St. Petersburg. They fired ex-NHL defenceman Alexei Kasatonov as GM, head coach Jukka Jalonen, who helmed the Finnish 2010 Olympic squad and his assistant. Slava Bykov, the former Russian national team coach, is now SKA St. Petersburg bench boss.

– There was a feeling Pavel Bure would be GM of the new KHL team in Sochi, the Leopards, but he’s just the the team president. Too much work being GM. Bure can stay at his place in Florida and commute. How will they draw? “Nobody’s going to go to the games. It’s a resort, busier in the summer than winter. They’ve got the building, so they need a team,” said one KHL observer.

But Sidney Crosby, the superstar Pittsburgh Penguins captain, has won only one most-valuable player award and he’s been …

]]>Ask the NHL rank-and-file to vote on the game’s best player, and I’d say 70 per cent of them would scribble C-R-O-S-B-Y.

But Sidney Crosby, the superstar Pittsburgh Penguins captain, has won only one most-valuable player award and he’s been in the league since 2005. How can that be?

You can throw out two seasons when Crosby had his concussion issues in Pittsburgh and only played 21 and 41 games, but that’s still only one Hart Trophy in the other six seasons. Alex Ovechkin has three MVPs and Crosby has one. There’s something wrong with this picture.

OK, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are the ultimate tag-team partners in Pittsburgh, and Malkin’s won once and been runner-up twice, splitting the vote.

But Crosby got jobbed during the 48-game lockout season. He had 56 points in 36 games, missing a dozen games with a broken jaw. Ovechkin had the same number points but in the full 48 for the Capitals. More goals (32) swung the tide, but again, in 12 more games.

That’s the only other time Crosby has even been runner-up in the voting, in case you’re wondering.

Crosby, who has kept the Penguins afloat this season through 500-man games lost to a grocery list of injuries from Kris Letang’s stroke to linemate Pascal Dupuis’s wrecked knee, isn’t going to be denied again. He’s the only NHLer with 100 points, he’s in the top 10 in goals with 36, he’s figured in close to 44 per cent of the Penguins’ goals, and when he gets a point, Pittsburgh’s only lost eight of 55 games in regulation time. He’s done all that with Malkin missing 20 games and James Neal 23.

Getzlaf didn’t get much love in 2010-11 to help linemate Corey Perry to 50 goals and the Hart, over Danny Sedin that campaign, but he makes the Ducks go. Twenty-six of his 31 goals are even-strength, he’s got eight game-winning goals and he’s plus-29.

Varlamov is the reason the Avs are the most surprising NHL team. He’s won more games, 41, than his current coach Patrick Roy ever won in a single-season. He’s playing behind a defence with Andre Benoit, Nate Guenin, Tyson Barrie and Nick Holden that had 122 games of NHL experience coming into this year.

This is the toughest of all the categories, with Zdeno Chara, Ryan Suter and Alex Pietrangelo very close, and large applause to Mark Giordano in Calgary, who’s had a terrific season.

Doughty was the best Canadian player in the Olympics, a towering, confident puck-mover and responsible defensively. Some say his play has dropped off marginally since Sochi, but the kid taken in the draft behind Steve Stamkos in 2008 can do it all.

Weber has never won the Norris, but on a team with almost no juice offensively at forward, he’s their ultimate weapon. He broke Tim Jackman’s hand and smashed Freddie Andersen in the mask with shots a week or so ago. The Oilers would die to get him off the Predators.

Keith and partner Brent Seabrook are the best tandem in the league. Keith gets the puck up ice faster than anybody else.

MacKinnon, the youngest player in the league (he doesn’t turn 19 until September) has phenomenal wheels and a wrister like Petr Nedved used to unleash. He’s going to win scoring championships someday. He should be first on every ballot. Lindholm and Trouba are sensational, calm, rookie defencemen playing huge minutes.

Roy had many critics when hired with people wondering how he’d translate from junior (Quebec City) to the pros, but it’s been seamless and the Avs are the NHL’s darlings going from 29th place last year to almost No. 1 in points this season.

Cooper dealt with the loss of Stamkos to a broken leg for 45 games and kept the truck moving. Very good motivator, calm under fire.

The coach of the best team in the league often doesn’t get the props they deserve, but Julien has done superb job with Bruins with a very young blue-line corps.

See above for Varlamov. Had off-ice issues this year which weighed on him but very consistent work. Rask is best Finnish goalie right now, and they’ve got a full stable of good ones around the NHL. Bishop, nursing sore wrist as playoffs loom, is a six-foot-seven giant and a workhorse.

Bergeron has taken more faceoffs than anybody else, has more than 60 points, and his hockey IQ is through the roof.

Kopitar doesn’t get nearly enough love for how responsible he is without the puck. When L.A. is down 5-on-3, Kopitar is the forward out there, usually an indicator who the best defensive forward is.

Toews (shoulder), who could miss some of the early playoffs, won last year, Bergeron the year before.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/14/expect-sidney-crosby-to-score-hart-trophy-come-nhl-awards-time/feed/0Sidney CrosbynhlbymattyShort shifts: If McPhee’s done as GM in Washington, could Calgary be next destination?http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/13/short-shifts-if-mcphees-done-as-gm-in-washington-could-calgary-be-next-destination/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/13/short-shifts-if-mcphees-done-as-gm-in-washington-could-calgary-be-next-destination/#commentsMon, 14 Apr 2014 02:00:28 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=197778- If Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonis fires general manager George McPhee after 17 years at the same store-counter, what are the chances Calgary Flames team president Brian Burke hires him? Burke ironically replaced McPhee as director of hockey operations …]]>- If Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonis fires general manager George McPhee after 17 years at the same store-counter, what are the chances Calgary Flames team president Brian Burke hires him? Burke ironically replaced McPhee as director of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks in 1987 when McPhee got the Caps’ GM gig and they’ve been longtime GM contemporaries. McPhee, lest we forget, won the Hobey Baker Award in 1982 (Bowling Green University). He and former Edmonton Oilers centre Ray Cote were the first players to ever score three goals in a playoff game without ever playing an NHL regular-season game. McPhee with the Rangers.

– Jeff Blashill is the hottest coaching item outside the NHL for his work in with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, but don’t expect the Red Wings to grant permission to other NHL teams with job openings quite yet. Detroit head man Mike Babcock has one year left on his contract, and they want to get him tied up first, but if Babcock’s price tag’s, say, too rich, they need a fallback. The Wings conceivably would move Blashill up to take Babcock’s spot. Blashill worked one year on Babcock’s staff.

– Dustin Penner has barely played (12 minutes a night) since he was acquired by the Capitals and has one goal in 17 games. Adam Oates isn’t a fan. Penner has his two Cup rings, and he’s made $27.5 million in his NHL career, but how good would Penner have been if he had a dollop of fellow LW Ryan Smyth’s passion for the game?

– If I was a betting man, I’d say Cam Ward will be the starting goalie for the New York Islanders next year, with the Carolina Hurricanes going with Anton Khudobin. The Isles could certainly move forward Josh Bailey and a young defenceman.
Since we’ve been dumping on Alex Ovechkin and Nail Yakupov for their awful plus/minuses, let us consider Alex Edler, who is somehow minus-38 in 62 games for the Vancouver Canucks. This is a $5-million player.

– Antti Niemi has had a very average year in San Jose (2.40 goals-against average, .912 save percentage). They’ll start him against the Kings, but he’ll be on a short leash. They will not hesitate to throw backup Alex Stalock in there (.929 save percentage, 1.91 avg. in 23 games).

– What’s with all the new hires of hockey operations presidents? Trevor Linden in Vancouver, Brendan Shanahan in Toronto. “To me, it’s a level of security for the owners on decision making … they don’t want to be talking to the general manager every day about why, say, Alex Burrows isn’t playing with the twins in Vancouver,” said one longtime NHL executive. Big-money decisions can run from the prez to the owner, too. “I think you might see 10 to 12 of these hires now, the richer teams.” Linden and Shanahan are smart guys but very green when it comes to running an entire hockey operation.

– Ben Bishop (wrist) should be ready for the first Tampa Bay Lightning-Montreal Canadiens playoff game, but if the Phoenix Coyotes had made it as a Western wild-card, their goalie Mike Smith would have been iffy. He’s got a sprained knee and had been wearing a brace when practicing. Some goalmouth movements would have been problematic. Phoenix missed out because they couldn’t score, though; the injury to centre Martin Hanzal really hurt too. Expect Coyotes GM Don Maloney to look for a shooting winger for Mike Ribeiro this summer.

– Sheldon Souray is the forgotten Anaheim Ducks defenceman. He’s missed the whole season with two wrist surgeries. He has a year left on his contract at $3.6 million, but you wonder whether he can play again. Right now, there’s a logjam of blueliners in Anaheim.

Eakins felt he had to clear the air and let his coaching lodge-brother know he hadn’t tapped his tough guy Steve Pinizzotto on the shoulder to go and drop the mitts with Matt Beleskey. He didn’t tell him to “get out there and don’t dance” to borrow the old line of former L.A. Kings coach Don Perry with Paul Mulvey.

The Ducks’ big guns Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf hurled some invective at Eakins after the Pinizzotto fight, in which he clearly bested Beleskey.

They weren’t happy, at all.

Photo: Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau.

Considering Perry, who has 42 goals and could best Alex Ovechkin as first-line all-star RW, and the captain Getzlaf, who will get some Hart (MVP) votes, are “two of my favourite guys to watch in the league”, Eakins wanted to set the record straight.

“Corey Perry is from where I grew up when I moved to Canada when I was almost eight years old, Peterborough, and I’ve always kept up an eye on him and I love Getzlaf as a player,” said Eakins.

“But they took great exception to Pinizzotto fighting Beleskey. They started to come after me on the bench. I’m fine with that. Players can voice their opinion with me … I respect Bruce Boudreau and those two players, and I certainly have great respect for that organization. I went over to Bruce to first wish him well in the playoffs. He’s done a fabulous job with that team, and secondly, I wanted him to know I would never, ever put a guy out on the ice to fight.”

Eakins wouldn’t do that — this seemed more Pinizzotto’s game plan to fire up his team — but course, no coach or manager is ever going to say that they cross the line of fair play, publicly.

I remember the great L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda once being apoplectic when asked in a media scrum if one of his pitchers had thrown at Kurt Bevacqua on purpose.

He went off on Bevacqua in a hilarious bit.

“Very, very bad for that man to make an accusation like that,” said Lasorda, ” and if I did, I certainly wouldn’t throw at a .130 hitter like Kurt Bevacqua, who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a bleeping boat. I’d send a limousine for the bleep to make sure he was in their lineup.””

Photo: Anaheim Ducks forwards Corey Perry, left, and Ryan Getzlaf.

Pinizzotto, playing his third Oiler game since his recall from OKCity (15 in total in the NHL after a dozen in Vancouver last season), is tough but not over the top tough.

He’s only had four NHL fights in those 15 games, against Beleskey, Rich Clune, Andrew Desjardins and Kevin Klein.

He clearly wanted to juice up his team, down a goal, with a fight, and Beleskey happened to be the partner.

He knows he’s here to make an impression and he dropped the mitts with the closest guy to him Beleskey, who has 20 points in 51 games this year and 23 fights since 2009-2010.

Beleskey clearly lost, but this wasn’t like Pinizzotto was fighting, say, Andrew Cogliano. Three of Beleskey’s four fights this year have also come against the Oilers, so maybe they just don’t like him much. He’s dropped the mitts with Matt Hendricks and Will Acton as well the last 10 days.

“Pinizzotto went out, he and Beleskey had words, and they fought. To me, it was a non-issue,” said Eakins, who later saw Hendricks and Mark Fraser fight the 230-pound Patrick Maroon in the second.

Maybe the Ducks took exception to the scraps from a 28th place team against a team that is a Cup contender this late in the season.

But nobody really got beat up badly.

“I was surprised that an occurrence like that (Pinizzotto) seemed to get their team off the rails,” said Eakins.

Again, Eakins loves Perry and Getzlaf. He loves the fact they got mad; it shows the fire in their furnaces. He’d be in seventh heaven if they were on his team. It’s too bad there’s not one more game this season against the Ducks to even some scores.

“Some of their players were yelling at me which is great when I didn’t even throw a punch,” Eakins said after the 4-2 Oilers victory.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/04/07/dallas-eakins-chatted-with-ducks-coach-boudreau-about-pinizzotto-fight/feed/0Oilers Ducks Pinizzotto 04062014nhlbymattyEdmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins gives directions to his team on April 4, 2014, during a game against the host Phoenix Coyotes.Photo: Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau.Photo: Anaheim Ducks forwards Corey Perry, left, and Ryan Getzlaf.This ‘n’ that: Oh to find those late NHL entry draft gemshttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/03/31/this-n-that-oh-to-find-those-late-nhl-entry-draft-gems/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/03/31/this-n-that-oh-to-find-those-late-nhl-entry-draft-gems/#commentsMon, 31 Mar 2014 06:30:45 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=196799- Here’s what the Oilers seriously have to do to fill holes: find a gem in the seventh round of the draft like the Tampa Bay Lightning did in 2011, when they took Ondrej Palat with the 208th pick — …]]>- Here’s what the Oilers seriously have to do to fill holes: find a gem in the seventh round of the draft like the Tampa Bay Lightning did in 2011, when they took Ondrej Palat with the 208th pick — the next-to-last name called. He has 19 goals as a rookie winger.

- Some NHL scouts say Spruce Grove Saints centre Cameron Hughes, 17, who has verbally committed to the University of Wisconsin, could have been a first-round pick if eligible for this June’s draft. He’ll go in 2015, when he’s expected to go in the top 60.

- The Calgary Flames are like a hitter at the plate who keeps fouling off pitches. They’re no easy out, maybe the NHL’s toughest out considering their skill set up front. “They have an identity, and the easiest thing to hang your hat on as a coach is a work ethic,” said an opposing NHL coach. “When you have that and you lose, you can say ‘well, we didn’t get the breaks, but we worked hard.’ If you are skilled and you lose, you can’t sell that. Teams that have a work ethic can sell a loss by saying ‘we just didn’t have it tonight.’ Selling work is like selling ice to Eskimos. Calgary’s selling the right thing.”

- Teemu Selanne’s 16-year-old son Eetu got a taste of the Western Hockey League last fall when he scored an invite to the Calgary Hitmen camp, but Selanne isn’t sure what route his midget AAA boy — a six-foot, 170-pound forward who plays for the touring L.A. Selects — should go. “I don’t want to stop his dream (NHL). He wants to go major junior, I want him to go to college. Maybe the USHL could be the plan,” said Teemu. If you play one exhibition game in the WHL, you’re ineligible for the NCAA. Not so in the USHL. “This is so weird. I grew up in Finland and I didn’t have to go anywhere. I started at Jokerit (Helsinski) at 14 and got to the No. 1 team. But here, it seems so strange that your boy could be leaving your home at 16 to go and live with another family. Tough as a parent. I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

- Steven Stamkos might still score 30 goals (he has 23 in 29 games), even though he missed 45 games with his busted leg. Only 15 players have 30 or more this year.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has 48 goals but hasn’t scored one at even-strength in a month. Flip side: Jarome Iginla has 26 goals in his last 50 games for Boston. Ovie has 22 on the power play; Iginla has four on the PP of his 30 total.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/03/31/this-n-that-oh-to-find-those-late-nhl-entry-draft-gems/feed/0PalatnhlbymattyShort shifts: Loui Eriksson’s long-term status with the Boston Bruins could be in question post-concussionshttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/12/15/short-shifts-loui-erikssons-long-term-status-with-the-boston-bruins-could-be-in-question-post-concussions/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/12/15/short-shifts-loui-erikssons-long-term-status-with-the-boston-bruins-could-be-in-question-post-concussions/#commentsMon, 16 Dec 2013 00:30:26 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=187627- With Marc Savard’s and Patrice Bergeron’s concussion history always present with the Boston Bruins, there are worries that Loui Eriksson’s two concussions in the last 45 days may seriously jeopardize his playing days. He’s been a vastly underrated forward …]]>- With Marc Savard’s and Patrice Bergeron’s concussion history always present with the Boston Bruins, there are worries that Loui Eriksson’s two concussions in the last 45 days may seriously jeopardize his playing days. He’s been a vastly underrated forward for years, but he’s made little impact in Beantown since the Tyler Seguin trade, injuries aside.

– I can’t see the Los Angeles Kings holding on to winger Matt Frattin, an Edmonton native, who keeps getting scratched. He’s got talent, for sure, but on a team that’s solidly on the plus side, the former Toronto Maple Leafs forward is minus 7, worst on the team. And he has two goals in 25 games.

– Alex Ovechkin leads the league in goals, but the Washington Capitals star is minus 11, the worst of anybody in the top 30 of the scoring race. Not a good sign. Ovie has a shot at 50 goals in 50 games, though — he’s got 26 in 30 games so far. “The way he played against us (four goals), he might get 80 in 50,” Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper wise-cracked recently.

– The St. Louis Blues publicly stand behind goalie Jaroslav Halak, but they have the young players to swap for Buffalo Sabres netminder Ryan Miller at the trade deadline. The question is whether he’d be worth four pieces, which is what the Sabres fetched for soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Jason Pominville last season. The Sabres got prospect goalie Matt Hackett, a good young forward Johan Larsson, and first- and second-round draft picks in return. Would the Blues give up goalie Jake Allen, winger Ty Rattie and two draft picks for Miller? That’s what it might take. I know St. Louis doesn’t want to move winger Dmitrij Jaskin.

– How bad are the Buffalo Sabres? They’ve played 33 games. They have won two in regulation — against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 25 and the Maple Leafs on Nov. 15. If you’re a fan of the Panthers or the Leaf, of the shame of it.

– Martin Brodeur says he doesn’t want a farewell tour — he’s fine with signing sticks; he’s done it for players the last three years — and the way he’s going, why should he quit? He’s collected three shutouts and sports a 2.31 goals-against average thus far in 2013-14 — at age 41. He’s got almost twice as many shutouts (124) as the next closest active goalie Roberto Luongo at 65.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/12/15/short-shifts-loui-erikssons-long-term-status-with-the-boston-bruins-could-be-in-question-post-concussions/feed/0Loui ErikssonnhlbymattyNHL West clearly best despite abundance of East star powerhttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/11/25/nhl-west-clearly-best-despite-abundance-of-east-star-power/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/11/25/nhl-west-clearly-best-despite-abundance-of-east-star-power/#commentsMon, 25 Nov 2013 07:01:36 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=185632With the NHL season one-quarter over, here’s what we know without a hint of contradiction.

1. Eastern Conference teams are proving a piñata for the Western Conference as they wail on them night after night after night. As former Edmonton …

]]>With the NHL season one-quarter over, here’s what we know without a hint of contradiction.

1. Eastern Conference teams are proving a piñata for the Western Conference as they wail on them night after night after night. As former Edmonton Oilers coach Ron Low would say, “they beat them for fun.” When last I looked, the West’s record against the East was something like 87-38-16 or two out of every three games won by the West. The league’s marquee players call the East home — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos before he busted his leg, and Phil Kessel — but the depth of high-end teams in the West is staggering. Boston would be tied for eighth in the West with Phoenix and Pittsburgh would be 10th.

2. Most heartwarming story is that of Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding, who has multiple sclerosis, a disease that saps energy, and he has a 1.48 average, 13 wins and a .939 save percentage. Long thought of as a career backup, he’s taken over from Nik Backstrom as the No. 1 guy there.

3. The Toronto Maple Leafs should never have traded Alexander Steen for Lee Stempniak five years ago because Steen is quite possibly the most underrated, best forward in the league. He’ll be one of Sweden’s top guns in the upcoming Sochi Olympics.

Here are some other observations:

Polish up the Norris Trophy: The Wild’s Ryan Suter got jobbed in voting for the best defenceman last year, losing to Montreal Canadiens rearguard P.K. Subban’s flash and points. Suter, however, is the ultimate horse. In one three-game stretch, he played 108 minutes, 36 of them in one game. I have lots of time for Duncan Keith, but Suter can control a game like Chris Pronger used to.

Best defenceman nobody knows: Oliver Ekman-Larsson with the Phoenix Coyotes. He’s Suter Lite, with a little more offence but not quite Suter’s savvy. Great passer, wonderful skater. He could win a Norris someday.

No. 1 rookie, coming out of nowhere: Czech winger Tomas Hertl. Four goals one game for San Jose, including a cheeky one between his legs that made it big on YouTube. Big, hard to move and soft hands. Seth Jones has stud written all over him on the Nashville Predators blue-line, and I love fellow defenceman Hampus Lindholm in Anaheim, but Hertl got zero press coming into the season.

Danish pastries: Rookie Anaheim Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen won the first six games he played, and while he hasn’t pushed the incumbent Jonas Hiller to the curb just yet, he’s made the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Hiller a red-hot trade item at the deadline. New York Islanders centre Frans Nielsen is a point-a-game guy, in the top 25 in league scoring. Very versatile player.

One fine Ladd: Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd doesn’t want the league doing away with shootouts. He’s scored on six of his eight tries, the most dangerous shooter by far.

Goalie Bob: Sergei Bobrovsky is a shadow of last year’s impenetrable Vezina Trophy winner in Columbus. He’s got a losing record, a pedestrian 2.95 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage when the league average is .915 these days.

Give this guy Olympic start for Finland: Hard to believe the Maple Leafs once traded Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft. Rask, who plays every day ending in y for the Bruins, has a 1.62 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. If he got more run support, he’d be better than 12-5-2. He hates shootouts, by the way.

Awful bang for the buck: Alex Semin, who is playing on the first year of a five-year $35 million deal with the Carolina Hurricanes and is currently out with a concussion, scored three goals in his first 20 games. That’s the same as teammate Radek Dvorak, who is in his 18th NHL season and making $600,000.

Can I get a trade do-over?: Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee traded one of his best prospects Filip Forsberg to the Predators last April for forward Martin Erat, who has yet to score through 24 games this season, at a salary of $4.5 million. Phoenix goalie Mike Smith has one more goal than Erat.

What happened to Dennis the Menace? Noted Bruins disturber Brad Marchand has been on his best behaviour, with eight minor penalties and just three goals and eight points in 23 games.

Free-agent second thoughts: 1. Centre Stephen Weiss, five years, $24.5 million in Detroit. He’s been hurt (groin) but when he does play, he looks like a guy who left his best stuff in Florida; 2. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. Lots of miles and lots of good games in this guy’s resume, but at 40, the Chicago Blackhawks gambled he still had 20-22 games in him to back up Corey Crawford. Khabibulin gave up 14 goals in his first 74 shots over four games, however, and now he’s hurt as most older goalies are; 3. Daniel Briere. One of game’s nicest guys, normally fine hands, but he missed time with a concussion — one of several he’s suffered — and he was playing on the fourth line against the Capitals last Friday.

Best free-agent signings: 1. Patrick Roy to coach the Avalanche, leaving the cosy confines of the junior Quebec Remparts to step behind an NHL bench for the first time; 2. Mike Ribeiro to be the offensive centre in Phoenix. He’s exactly what the Coyotes needed with Martin Hanzal going up against the likes of Anze Kopitar in Los Angeles, Jumbo Joe Thornton in San Jose and Ryan Getzlaf in Anaheim regularly in Pacific Division play; 3. Brad Stuart. Perfect 3-4 defenceman in San Jose.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/11/25/nhl-west-clearly-best-despite-abundance-of-east-star-power/feed/0Penguins Blues 11092013nhlbymattyIs Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin the NHL’s most enigmatic Russian?http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/08/12/is-washington-capitals-captain-alexander-ovechkin-the-nhls-most-enigmatic-russian/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/08/12/is-washington-capitals-captain-alexander-ovechkin-the-nhls-most-enigmatic-russian/#commentsMon, 12 Aug 2013 10:00:14 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=174189Earlier this week, a mainstream publication ran an article that referred to three-time NHL MVP and eight-time (including twice this season) All-Star Alexander Ovechkin as “enigmatic.” Actually, it described him as “enigmatic” in the title, followed it up with “maddeningly …]]>Earlier this week, a mainstream publication ran an article that referred to three-time NHL MVP and eight-time (including twice this season) All-Star Alexander Ovechkin as “enigmatic.” Actually, it described him as “enigmatic” in the title, followed it up with “maddeningly enigmatic” and “moody” said he had “tuned out” former coach Bruce Boudreau, that Boudreau’s replacement Dale Hunter “never had the ear of his star” and described Ovechkin as a player “dogged by questions of maturity and work ethic.”

Understandably, it didn’t go over well with many fans. The first objection is the hackneyed and irritating “enigmatic” label that seems to get attached at some point to every Russian player in the NHL – it’s an unfortunate habit that many otherwise excellent writers can fall into by rote, and one that deserves all the snark and criticism it gets. The other issue is that there’s only so many nasty labels a writer can stick on the guy who was the best player in the league last year before he starts looking ridiculous. Ovechkin might be a frustrating and mercurial coach-killer, but the attacks lose some relevance when he’s outperforming every other player in the NHL.

Perhaps that’s why Alexander Ovechkin doesn’t take the crown as the NHL’s most enigmatic Russian – even once non-Russians are disqualified. The following is a count of total search results on google.ca for a player’s last name plus the phrase “enigmatic Russian.” Also included is a list of prominent mainstream publications that appear on the first page of the Google search results applying that descriptor to the individual player.

Because the search includes last name only, brothers are considered together.

Our apparent winners might be disqualified in some minds given that they are actually Belarusian. Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn have both been prominent members of their country’s national team, but given that Belarus was part of the Soviet Union, it’s perhaps understandable the label sticks to them. Playing in Montreal didn’t help –little items were big news – and neither did stories like this and this and this.

The real winner has to be Alexander Semin. In six seasons since the 2004-05 NHL lockout, he’s averaged 36 goals 41 assists and 77 points per 82 games. He can thank a couple of difficult playoff performances for his reputation, but more than that he can thank former teammates Matt Bradley and Troy Brouwer (though Bradley later apologized). Brouwer, rarely cited as a coach killer, ripped the “very lackadaisical” culture and lack of accountability under former coach Bruce Boudreau and framed Semin’s departure from the Capitals this way:

It was tough to lose his scoring ability, when he wanted to play. But all in all, I think we’ve been doing well without him… Some nights you didn’t even know if he was going to come to the rink. It’s tough to play alongside guys like those because you don’t know what you’re going to get out of ‘em.

Brower’s probably lucky he was born in British Columbia; given his comments on Boudreau and his sharp drop in scoring once the playoffs roll around, he’d probably be joining Ovechkin and Semin on this list if he’d been born in Russia – particularly since playing with other enigmatic Russians is a great way to bolster a reputation as an enigmatic Russian.

Other items that stand out:

– It’s amazing, even in this cursory look, how prevalent the “enigmatic Russian” narrative is in major media outlets. CBC, TSN, Sportsnet and ESPN represent the broadcasters, and there’s a nice mix of local papers and big national chains, too (including Postmedia papers). Everybody seems to do it – whether simply by running wire service pieces with the phrase or through the work of their own columnists and beat reporters. It’s understandable in one way – I’ve likely used the phrase unthinkingly myself at some point – but it’s tired and meaningless and more reflects the inability of the media as a class to cover Russian players fairly than it does faults in those players as a class.

– There are lots of familiar names placed highly on the list. Alexei Kovalev was a key contributor (23GP, 9G-12A-21PTS) on a Stanley Cup winner, had good playoff numbers over his career, and scored 1000+ points in the dead puck era, but was never able to shake the reputation. Evgeni Malkin is a three time first-team All-Star, won both league MVP awards in 2011-12, was the playoff MVP in 2009 and somehow still finds himself on this list. Also: Pavel Datsyuk makes this list, but seemingly because he’s repeatedly cited as an “exception to the rule.”

– The enigmatic status of some of the players here is no enigma. Nikolai Zherdev probably gets the enigmatic label back home. Alexander Radulov skipped out on the final year of his entry-level deal for more money overseas. Ilya Bryzgalov – despite some superb seasons – might lead the league in weird statements to microphones, making him just plain enigmatic without any need to attach “Russian.”

– Edmonton Oilers’ Nail Yakupov finds himself on this list likely thanks to two incidents in particular. He failed to speak to reporters after a World Juniors game in Russia, and was harshly criticized as a result. Also, there was that celebration which rubbed the league’s most antediluvian commentators the wrong way. Being visibly happy on the ice is a surefire way to earn the label in a hurry.